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Timeline of Democratic Struggles in Australia
A timeline of the various struggles for greater democracy in Australia. 1700s * 1791: Convicts in Sydney, New South Wales stage the first strike in Australian history, demanding daily instead of weekly rations from the government. 1800s * 1854: The Eureka Rebellion occurs in Ballarat, Victoria, as miners fight for lower taxes and an increase in democratic participation. Although the rebellion is a military failure (being crushed in 15 minutes) it is a spectacular political success, as the miners achieve all their demands in 1900s * 1908: American IWW activists help create powerful workers' councils among meat industry workers in Northern Queensland. * 1918: Rebellion breaks out in Darwin, Northern Territory, demanding the end to an incompetent government and lack of democratic rights. * 1923: The police in Melbourne, Victoria go on a three day strike which leads to the collapse of private property and the control of city streets by strikers. * 1938: Dockworkers at Port Kembla, Wollongong, New South Wales refuse to load iron onto ships that would export to the Japanese Empire in protest of their atrocities and war crimes in China. * 1956: Dockworkers in Fremantle, Western Australia, stage a strike in protest of a lack of wage increases. * 1971: Workers at the Harco Steel Factory in Campbelltown, Sydney, New South Wales stage a work-in in protest of firings and job insecurity. * 1971: The Melbourne University Resistance Commune is formed as students occupy buildings in Melbourne University for two days to shelter students drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. * 1971: The Builders Labourers Federation begins to stage Green Bans in Sydney, New South Wales to protect heritage and green sites set for destruction across New South Wales. * 1972: Sixty mineworkers' at the Clutha Development Mine in South Clifton, New South Wales stage a work-in in protest of the closure of the coal mine. * 1972: Construction workers in the unfinished Sydney Opera House in Sydney, New South Wales stage a work-in in protest of the unjust firing of a fellow worker. This results in large gains for the working class across Australia. * 1978: Workers at a Sanyo Television Factory in Wodonga, Victoria stage a work-in in protest of firing of workers and low wages. * 1979: Workers at the Union Carbide Petrochemical Plant in Altona, Melbourne, Victoria stage a work-in in response to the firing of workers. * 1986: The Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation is founded in Melbourne, Australia. * 1990: Tramworkers' in Melbourne stage a strike, aiming to place the entire network under workers' control and provide job guarantees for tram drivers and free tram rides for commuters. 2000s * 2001: In Newtown, Sydney, New South Wales, a building dubbed 'Hat Factory' is squatted by anarchists and serves as a shelter for homeless people, domestic violence survivors and mentally ill people. * 2015: The Matagarup Refugee Camp is formed in Heirisson Island, Perth, Western Australia to fight back against discrimination of Aboriginal Australians. * 2018: Students in major and regional cities across the country refuse to attend school for a day in protest of government inaction on climate change and environmental destruction. * 2019: Workers at Chemist Warehouse in Preston, Melbourne, Victoria and Brisbane, Queensland stage a strike in protest of sexual harassment by managers, low wages and job insecurity. * 2019: Aboriginal activists prevent workers from entering a large cattle station owned by Chinese investors in the Kimberley, Western Australia from engaging in land clearing which would destroy sacred monuments.